Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell, appearing before Silicon Valley business leaders in Palo Alto on Thursday, said he is confident he can still win next week's primary despite recent polls that show him trailing Carly Fiorina by about 15 percentage points.

In a Capitol Weekly poll released Thursday, Fiorina led Campbell 40 percent to 24.5 percent, counting those "leaning" toward either candidate. Over the weekend, the University of Southern California and Los Angeles Times released a poll in which Fiorina led Campbell 38 percent to 23 percent. Candidate Chuck DeVore came in last with 16 percent.

"That's the argument that wins, particularly for the voters who have not yet made up their minds: Pragmatically, I can beat Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina cannot," Campbell said before a round-table discussion with Silicon Valley business figures. "If we're interested in beating Barbara Boxer, we need to nominate somebody who's fiscally conservative and socially moderate."

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Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, has loaned about $3 million of her own money to her campaign over the past couple of weeks and beefed up television advertising, her campaign office confirmed. Earlier this week, Campbell's office announced it was yanking television commercials, but his staff said Thursday that a new 30-second ad would be running in the final days before the June 8 election focusing on the former congressman's ability to beat Boxer in a general election. The ad can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6DSsUJW8s.

"Voters have seen Tom Campbell's campaign rationale and strategy crumble," Fiorina's office said in a statement Thursday. "He tried to fool voters into thinking he is a fiscal conservative, but when his record of support for tax increases became known, his numbers fell fast. We expect both of these trends to continue as the primary election quickly approaches."

Campbell remained undeterred Thursday.

In addition to the new television spot, Campbell said he will focus on town halls, telephone parties and "extensive use of the Internet" to reach voters in the next few days.

"Having your own wealth to drop in — it's an advantage, no question," he said. "I'm not sure most people are happy with that. I think that might be a fair criticism of our present system."

About 20 Silicon Valley business leaders attended the meeting with Campbell at the Palo Alto law firm Townsend & Townsend & Crew. Attendees shared their opinions on topics such as federal stimulus spending, unemployment, intellectual property law and international trade.

"We are doing everything we possibly can to scare off investment in this country in jobs, and it's rippling across the world," said Patrick Brockett, president and CEO of Sunnyvale-based Summit Microelectronics. "In this sort of environment, people don't want to go out and put their money down. They stick it under the mattress."

Should he win the primary Tuesday, Campbell said he plans to solicit more advice from the business community to develop a comprehensive platform for the general election.